MARS, Tanya

Cheers or Tears for Humanity
Saturday October 12, 7 pm
630 Queen Street East

A performance in two parts, Cheers or Tears for Humanity delves into some big questions about the current state of the world and asks you to weigh in. Are you optimistic or skeptical about the future? What do you think about AI, crypto, recycling? Do you think we will be able to affect change? Over the course of the festival Mars will have conversations with people about their views, one-on-one or in small groups. At the end of the festival, after she has tabulated the results of the survey, she will share them with you during a high-energy Ted-Talk-esque reveal.

Tanya Mars is a feminist performance artist who has been actively involved in the Canadian art scene since 1973 doing many different things. She has lived and worked in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia. Since the ’70s Mars’ work has focused on creating spectacular feminist imagery that places women at the centre of the narrative. Since the mid-’90s her performances have included endurance, durational and site-specific strategies. Her work is political, satirical and humorous. She has worked both independently and collaboratively to create both large-scale as well as intimate performances in Canada and internationally. Ironic to Iconic: The Performance Works of Tanya Mars, was published in 2008 by FADO, edited by Paul Couillard. She is the recipient of a 2008 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. Recently retired from teaching at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Mars lives off-grid in Nova Scotia. She has one daughter and 3 grandsons.

I have been a vocal advocate for feminist and performance art and artist self-determination since the early 1970s, and have been active in the artist-run community including involvement with La Centrale/Galerie Powerhouse in Montréal, ANNPAC/Parallelogramme, the 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art in Toronto and currently The Shelburne County Arts Council in Nova Scotia.

My work is often characterized as visually rich layers of spectacular, satirical imagery that puts women at the centre of the narrative. I have performed widely across Canada and in Sweden, Finland, Poland, China, Chile, France, Mexico, Denmark, the US and Svalbard, Norway.

I presented Codpieces: Phallic Paraphernalia (1974).  I was using my married name Tanya Rosenberg. This work was my first major solo exhibition/performance. Not specifically a “performance” I made dozens of codpieces from found objects such as camera case covers, oil cans, batman models, etc. which were worn by live nude male models and presented at Powerhouse Gallery (La Centrale) in Montreal causing quite a stir in the media.

Throughout the 80’s, I created a series of iconic performances, the women in power series: Pure Virtue (1984), Pure Sin (1986), Pure Nonsense (1987), and Pure Hell (1990). This body of work conflated the historic with the contemporary, using known archetypes (Queen Elizabeth I, Mae West, Alice in Wonderland) to highlight the status of women, postulating that “the more things change the more they stay the same” (sort of). These works were most aligned with theatre and the dramatic use of language, multiple characters, original composed music, and choreography.

Later works were more akin to tableau vivant: long, slow pictures that unfolded over time, often responding specifically to a site, such as Tyranny of Bliss (2004), a 7-hour performance with 30 performers that took place in 14 locations throughout the downtown core of Toronto along Queen’s Park, University Avenue, City Hall and the now-defunct Speakers’ Corner at CityTV. Inspired by the fresco the Effects of Good and Bad Government (1338–40) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, each location referenced the 7 Deadly Sins and 7 Heavenly Virtues.

I have worked with choreographer Odette Oliver in many capacities in many of her performances, and consider her a “muse.”

In terms of publications, I  am the co-editor with Johanna Householder of Caught in the Act: an anthology of performance art by Canadian women (2004) and More Caught in the Act (2016). In 2008, FADO published Ironic to Iconic: The Performance Works of Tanya Mars, edited by Paul Couillard. I received a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2008, and an honorary doctorate from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Halifax, in 2014. I taught in the Studio Program at the University of Toronto Scarborough for 25 years. I immigrated to Canada from the U.S. in 1967, and have lived in Québec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Now, I live on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, off the grid. I have a daughter Lara, son-in-law, James, and three grandsons, Jacob, Joshua, and Jonathan.

Homage to Hannah Wilke and Virginia Woolf
Saturday, November 7 8 pm
DeLeon White Gallery, 455 King St W

Curated by Paul Couillard and Louise Liliefeldt as part of Pousse-Café
Presented by Mercer Union

Once again Mars tips her hat to feminist history to create an ironic commentary on the sorry state of “woman’s place” as we approach the millennium.

Tanya Mars is a multidisciplinary performance and video artist who has been active in the Canadian art community for over 25 years. Her work conflates contemporary feminist and political issues with traditional performance art aesthetics to provide spectacular feminist imagery. She currently teaches at the University of Toronto Scarborough and St. George campuses. She divides her time between Toronto and Shelburne, Nova Scotia where she gardens avidly.